•   Modular system automates and streamlines payments using ISO20022 message standards

LONDON, 15th December, 2009 – SMA Financial (www.sma.co.uk), SWIFT Regional partner for UK, Eire, Channel Islands and the Nordics today announced the launch of SMA Alembic, a new product that enables corporate treasury to improve cash and liquidity management.  SMA Alembic uses next generation SWIFT technology based on ISO20022 standards to automate and streamline payments, to reduce the complexity of international cash management and to enable more efficient use of working capital.

SMA Alembic is a modular software suite that can be customised to meet the demanding requirements of today’s corporate treasury department.  It simplifies SWIFT connectivity, making it easy to make payments and receive statements, and is backed up by SMA’s highly experienced team of SWIFT certified experts.  SMA Alembic allows corporate treasury to:

•   Reduce the complexity of international cash management, deliver greater efficiency and optimise liquidity management
•   Automate and streamline payments preparation using straightforward workflows
•   Gain greater visibility of  multi-bank cash positions from a single consolidated view
•   Eliminate multiple connections to proprietary electronic banking services
•   Make use of standardised counterparty data

Simon Murby, Managing Director, SMA Financial said, “SMA Alembic has been designed to enable corporate treasurers to optimise cash and liquidity management whilst simplifying any complexity associated with making payments over the SWIFT network.  Customers benefit from a highly flexible user interface to manage multi-bank cash management information.  SMA Alembic is a cost effective, scalable and customisable product that combines the latest payments and cash management technology with the proven ultra secure SWIFT network.”

SMA Alembic provides full connectivity to SWIFT via SMA’s SWIFT Service Bureau and a built in integration engine ensures seamless data flow from any other internal or external system.  It features a highly flexible user interface and delivers the connectivity, flexibility and efficiency required to understand complex multi-bank financial scenarios.

The modularity of the software provides the functionality to create and control payment messages, replacing multiple proprietary electronic banking applications.  It can be configured to cater for SWIFT standard messages along with local or domestic payment types for higher rates of straight-through processing (STP).

SMA Alembic provides a consolidated view of all accounts, aggregated by bank, currency or business unit, for example.  Combined with SMA Alembic’s cash pooling and forecasting capabilities, corporate treasury gains enhanced visibility over surplus cash which can be moved according to user-defined rules and preferences to maximise liquidity opportunities.

Murby concluded, “The reaction that we have received when presenting SMA Alembic to corporate treasurers has been extremely positive.  The product is a complementary offering to the established SWIFT Service Bureau and we anticipate that there will be a rapid uptake of SMA Alembic from companies looking to implement better cash and liquidity management systems.”